Refrigerator cabinet



Jan. 5, 1943.

o. H. YOXSIM ER REFRIGERATOR CABINET Filed Dec INVENTOR OAM/VO VOAS/Mfl? WITNESSES:

M 1., ATTom-qpz FIG. 2.

Patented Jan. 5, 1943 Orland H. Yoxsimer, Springfield, Mass,

assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application December 31, 1940, Serial No. 372,608

1 Claim.

This invention relates to refrigerator cabinet construction and more especially to the construction of the cabinet and door adjacent the door seal.

une object of the invention is to provide such construction having a low heat leakage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a deeply-resilient door-sealing gasket in combination with a' narrow heat leakage path of air between the door and the cabinet wall.

A further object is to provide a refrigerator door of strong construction.

These and other objects invention as will be apparent from the follow? ing description and claim taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a domestic refrigerator embodying the invention;

Fig. 21s a horizontal sectional view of the refrigerator of Fig. l with the door closed; and

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the sealing gasket for the door.

Referring specifically to the drawing for a detailed description of the invention, the reference numeral it represents a refrigerator cabinet are efiected by my meeting edges of the strips l9 are mitered and are concealed by corner clips 2|.

A frameless door 23 is secured to the cabinet by hinges 24 and comprises an inner panel 25 consisting of a sheet of stiff, molded, moistureproof heat insulating material and an outer' dished sheet of metal 26, the edges 21 of which are turned inwardly and are secured to the inner panel 25 peripherally thereof by screws 28, as shown'in Fig. 2. The inner panel 25 is preferably iormed of a material such as that used for the breaker strips l9. It has been found that a thickness of between 1 5 and 5 5 of an inch of the product known by the trade-mark Micarta," for example, provides a door which is extremely light and suiliciently strong. The light inner. panel 25, together with the lack of a frame in the door, reduces the heat leakage through the door and the inertia developed by the door when it is slammed shut. Non-rigid heat insulating material 33 is preferably disposed between the inner door panel 25 and the outer dished sheet 26.

comprising an outer shell Ii having a verticallyextending substantially rectangular access opening I! in its upper portion. An inner liner l3 defines a food storage compartment 9 and is secured in the cabinet by means of a breaker strip l4 and sheet metal screws l5 and by. internal supports, not shown in the drawing. The edges it of the sides and the top of the outer shell H are turned inwardly around the access opening l2 and the edges ll of the inner liner iii are turned outwardly to provide attachment flanges for the breaker strip l4. Heat insulating material I8 is packed between the inner liner l3 and the outer shell ll.

An evaporative cooling unit 20 is disposedin the upper portion of the food storage compartment 9 to cool the same. The cooling unit 28 also induces a vertical circulation of air therein which is down the back, across the bottom, and up the front of the food liner is. The breaker strip It comprises four panels or strips E9 of heat insulating material. The strips is are nonmetallic and non-hygroscopic and are preferably formed of a material impregnated with a resinous condensation product, such as the product known by the trade-mark Micarta. All of the strips l9 lie in the same vertical plane and form a portion of the front wall of A rubber sealing gasket 3% of substantially c section is secured to the edge of the door with the base of the e clamped between the inner panel 25 and the edges 21 of the dished sheet 26 of the door 23 and held in place by the sheet metal screws 28. The head or balloon 36 of the e sectioned gasket 3i overlies the heads of the sheet metal screws 28 and when the door 23 is closed, the balloon iii of the sealing gasket 34 lies near the outer margin of the breaker strips The inner panel 25 is molded to providea bulge or ofi'set 37 adjacent to and extending toward the cabinet i6 through this air space 38, and .if too the cabinet. The

narrow, moisture will condense on the breaker strips 59. The reason for this is as follows: If the air space 38 is too wide, the air in the space 38 will be circulated actively together with the air in the food compartment 9, which circulation is generally upward along the door 23. Cold air from the interior of the food compartment 9 will, therefore, circulate adjacent to the rubber sealing gasket 36. Since rubber is a relatively poor heat insulator the circulating air will absorb heat from the warm air-surrounding the refrigerator cabinet Hi. If the air space 38 is too narrow, warm, moist air from the exterior of the cabinet ID will be trapped in the air space 38 whenever the door 23 is closed. Thisair will gradually cool while in the air space 38 and themoisture contained in the air will condense on the heat breaker strips IS.

The offset portion 31 of the inner panel 25 adjacent the breaker strips 19 also permits the use of a rubber sealing gasket N with a large balloon 36. A sealing gasket having a large balloon 36 decreases the heat leakage across the gasket because of the greater air space in the balloon 38. It also aifords greater resiliency, so that the gasket 34 can conform to irregularities in the fitting of the door 23, thus permitting greater tolerances in manufacture.

The central portion 39 of the inner panel 25 is dished inwardly. The configuration of the panel 25 both at its edges 31 and at its center adds to its strength. The inner panel 25 tends to warp because the material is subject to diiler'ent condie,

tions of moisture and temperature on its two sides. The outer surface is exposed to the cold; dry air in the cabinet while the inner surface of the panel 25 is exposed to warmer air within the 7 door. The panel, furthermore. has a tendency to warp even though the air conditions at its two sides are the same, because its inner and outer surfaces may be finished with different materials. The tendency of the panel 25 to warp is materially decreased by the shoulder portion adjacent its margin and the dished center portion and this decreased tendency of warning adds to its strength and facilitates assemblingthe door.

It will be apparent from the above. that this invention provides a refrigerator cabinet having a low heat leakage, that it aifords the use of a large balloon sealing. gasket in combination with a narrow heat leakage path of'dead air between the cabinet wall and the door. and that it provides a door of unusually strong construction.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claim.

What I claim is:

In a refrigerator'cabinet, the combination of a cabinet structure having an access opening; heat breaker strips disposed around said opening, said 15 heat breaker strips having the major portion of 20 secured at its edges to the edges of said outer panel, and nonrigid heat-insulating material between said panels, said door overlying said exj posed major portion of the breaker strips; and a sealing gasket between the cabinet and the 23 periphery of said door; said inner panel having portions adjacent the sealing gasket lying in substantially one plane, said inner panel also having portions facing said major portions of the breaker strips which portions of the inner panel are offset 39 toward said breaker strips from the plane of the portions of the panel adjacent said sealing gaskets to decrease the air gap between said inner panel and said portions of the breaker strips and to add rigidity to said inner panel. said oil'set portionof the inner panel being of substantially the same thickness as said portion'adjacent the seai- 7 ing gasket.

- ORLAND H. YOXSIMER: 

